AROUND three quarters of executives have admitted to making at least one strategic initiative failing in the last three years as a result of flaws in their decision making process, according to CIMA.

Research from the UK institute and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA found that information overload, excessive bureaucracy, lack of trust and incentives that aren’t aligned with goals were all cited as contributors to poor decision making in businesses globally.

The report, which surveyed board-level executives at large organisations from 16 countries, found more than three quarters of executives say flawed information has been used to make strategic decisions, with 42% admit their organisation lost a competitive advantage because they were slow to make decisions.

Charles Tilley, chief executive of CIMA commented: “Bad decisions make for bad business, so these findings are a cause for great concern. Organisations need to treat decision-making as a business-critical process to be professionalised then continually improved.

“Above all, leaders need to think in an integrated way. This means having a clear and defined business model and relating all decisions back to it; quickly gathering and analysing all relevant information from all parts of the business; and focusing on key performance indicators rather than gut instinct or hearsay.”